Susan Carol Schwab (born March 23, 1955) is an American politician, who served under President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

United States Trade Representative The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting Foreign trade of the United States, United States ...

from June 2006 to January 2009. She is not related to Charles R. Schwab Sr., founder of the

Charles Schwab Corporation The Charles Schwab Corporation is an American multinational Financial institution, financial services company. It offers banking, commercial banking, investing and related services including consulting, and wealth management advisory services ...

; she is also not to be confused with his first wife Susan (Cotter) Schwab. She was nominated to replace

Rob Portman Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Portman was the 35th director of the Office of Management ...

as United States Trade Representative in April 2006, becoming Acting Trade Representative upon Portman's confirmation as director of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

. Previously, she served as Deputy United States Trade Representative from 2005 to 2006.

Career

Prior to becoming Deputy Trade Representative, she had served since 2003 as President and CEO of the University System of Maryland Foundation. From 1995 to 2003, she served as Dean of the School of Public Policy at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, where she remains on the faculty. Earlier in her career, she served as an aide to then-U.S. Senator

John Danforth John Claggett Danforth (born September 5, 1936) is an American politician, attorney, diplomat, and Episcopal priest who served as the Attorney General of Missouri from 1969 to 1976 and as a United States Senator from 1976 to 1995. A member of the ...

, as a foreign service officer in the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

, as a well-respected Director-General of the Foreign and Commercial Service within the U.S. Department of Commerce, and as a business development executive at

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

. Her first job was a trade negotiator with the USTR office, and she later served as Trade Policy Officer in the United States Embassy in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. She negotiated the United States-Canada softwood lumber dispute by signing a deal along with Canadian Trade Minister David Emerson on September 12, 2006 that gave Canada $4 billion out of the 5.3 billion dollars that the country lost in the dispute. On January 13, 2009, as the Bush Administration neared its end, Schwab reportedly announced retaliatory

tariffs A tariff or import tax is a duty imposed by a national government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods or raw materials and is ...

on "dozens" of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an luxury items, including French

truffles A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including '' Geopora'', '' Peziza'', '' Choiromyces'', and ' ...

, Irish oatmeal, Italian sparkling water and

Roquefort cheese Roquefort () is a sheep milk blue cheese from southern France. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may bear the name Roquefort, as it ...

. The European ban on U.S. beef containing hormones was the reason cited by the US for the retaliatory action. Roquefort cheese, made from

sheep's milk Sheep milk is the milk of Sheep, domestic sheep. It is commonly used to make cultured Dairy product, dairy products, such as cheese. Some of the most popular sheep cheeses include feta (Greece), pecorino romano (Italy), Roquefort (France) and Ma ...

in a region of southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, was hit with a 300% tariff, apparently the highest level by far of any in the package. When a 100% tariff was placed on the cheese in 1999, the report says, José Bové helped marshal opposition. As of 2009, the French complaint with the Roquefort tariff is being pursued through diplomatic channels."Bush War on Roquefort Raises a Stink in France: Departing Officials Set Duty at 300%"
by Edward Cody, ''The Washington Post'', 1-29-09, p. A01. Retrieved 1-29-09. She helped to launch negotiations for ACTA.

Board of directors member

On June 8, 2009, the Board of Directors of FedEx Corporation elected Ambassador Schwab as a director. The Board also appointed Ambassador Schwab as a member of its Compensation Committee. She also sits on the Board of Directors at

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

and

Caterpillar Inc Caterpillar Inc., also known as Cat, is an American construction, mining and other engineering equipment manufacturer. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 73 on the ' ...

Personal information

Schwab is a resident of

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

. She attended

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

( BA) in

Political Economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

( MA) in Development Policy and

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

( Ph.D) in Public Administration and International Business. She is a 1972 graduate of International School Bangkok. Coincidentally, she happens to share a name with Susan (Cotter) Schwab, the ex-wife of Charles R. Schwab Sr., founder of the

; however, she is of no relation to Schwab Sr., his family, or his ex-wife.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwab, Susan 1955 births American women chief executives American people of German descent American corporate directors Boeing people Caterpillar Inc. people FedEx people George W. Bush administration cabinet members Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration alumni Living people Maryland Republicans Politicians from Annapolis, Maryland Stanford University alumni United States trade representatives University of Maryland, College Park faculty Williams College alumni Women members of the Cabinet of the United States 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians